Sri Mulyani Calls WWF Bali Momentum To Initiate Global Water Fund

JAKARTA - Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said the 10th World Water Forum 2024 could be a momentum to design a joint funding mechanism or blended finance. Especially in the construction of water and sanitation infrastructure.

According to him, the need for large amounts of investment is a challenge in itself from improving adequate water and sanitation infrastructure.

"We all see that the need, the matter (defense for water infrastructure) and sanitation requires enormous investment. Funds originating from the government alone will not be sufficient. So many efforts are made, yes, at the local government level, even to the village, to the national level, and at the world level," Sri Mulyani said quoting Antara.

As the host of the 10th World Water Forum, Indonesia is one of the countries that encourages the World Water Fund or Global Water Fund as one of the programs to accelerate the 6th Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Sri Mulyani said that this is what the Indonesian government is trying to discuss with stakeholders from various countries and organizations.

"I understand that at the global level there are many international institutions in this (defense for water), whether it's the World Bank, ADB, African Development Bank, AIIB, European Investment Bank, etc. It worked. It must have a portfolio related to water and sanitation," he said.

Furthermore, the State Treasurer said that the Ministry of Finance will continue to support the formation of a Global Water Fund because in realizing water and sanitation security that deserves collaboration between the government and the private sector.

Karena kalau kita bicara tentang trilion of money dollar, itu private sector yang memiliki. Dan mereka biasanya membutuhkan insentifsi dan regulasi atau policy yang lepat untuk kemudian bersama-sama dengan multilateral institute dan nasional maupun lokal untuk bisa, jelas Sri Mulyani.

However, until now, the design and details and mechanisms of the Global Water Fund have not yet been studied in detail. Therefore, he added, the 10th World Water Forum 2024 can be a forum for various parties to carefully design a funding mechanism to be right on target.

"Later we from the Ministry of Finance can help PUPR friends. Like our experience, it makes it like a pandemic fund. So that later from there we can see how a funding is formed. Especially at the world level it can be done," he concluded.